Chemists are usually asked to invent a solution, but without considering hazardous by-products. Green chemists now are doing both with success, but will it take regulations to enforce the approach broadly?

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Whether gas, liquid or solid; radioactive or stable; reactive or inert; toxic or in your vitamin pill, the 118 building blocks each has its own chemically idiosyncratic characteristics--and certain commonalities. See what makes your favorite element unique on this interactive periodic table

So-called rare earths are not rare, but with no current domestic source the essential trace elements can be harder to come by than U.S. makers of wind turbines, hybrid cars, weapon systems and other technology would prefer

Listen to the announcement of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, to Daniel Shechtman of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. Then hear comments from the president of the American Chemical Society, Nancy Jackson, of Sandia National Laboratories

A screening of hundreds of metabolites in the blood plasma of people at rest and after exercise paints a newly detailed picture of changes within the body--and reinforces links with metabolic and cardiovascular diseases

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Deborah Blum talks about her new work, The Poisoner's Handbook, a look at how easy it used to be to kill someone with poison and the researchers who made poisoning much harder to get away with. Plus, we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Web sites related to this episode include blog.deborahblum.com